Method and apparatus for repairing dentures

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for repairing, relining and duplicating dentures and in particular for compensating for loss of vertical dimension in a patient&#39;&#39;s mouth is disclosed herein. The apparatus or fixture provides a means for holding a denture in contact with an impression material and separating the impression material from the denture to provide an exact spacing therebetween corresponding to the amount of material to be added to compensate for lost vertical dimension by a patient. A buildup of the denture in terms of temporary material facilitates remolding of the existing denture to add the desired material for loss compensation.

United States Patent [191 Tregillis et al.

[ Sept. 11, 1973 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REPAIRING DENTURES [76] Inventors; John S. Tregillis, 825 Dale St. South; Lester E. Schult, Rt. 2, both of Hutchinson, Mich. 350

22 Filed: Dec.28, 1970 [21 Appl.No.: 101,451

[52] U.S. Cl; 269/7, 32/17, 32/67,

- 269/256, 269/307 [51] Int. Cl. A6lc 9/00, B23g 3/06, B25b 1/02 [58] Field of Search 219/250, 256, 307; 32/2, 17, 19, 65, 67,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,059,336 10/1962 Windish 32/19 2,418,648 4/1947 Kile 32/19 2,356,447 8/1944 Cline 269/7 X Primary Examiner-Harold D. Whitehead Assistant Examiner-Ev F. Desmond AttorneySchroeder, Siegfried & Ryan [57] ABSTRACT A method and apparatus for repairing, relining and duplicating dentures and in particular for compensating 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REPAIRING DENTURES Our invention relates to a method and apparatus for repairing, relining and duplicating dentures and more particularly to an improved method and apparatus for relining and duplicating dentures and compensating for vertical bone and tissue loss in the wear of the same.

At the present time there are numerous appliances, articulators and holders available which are used in the making and fitting of dentures for the purpose of obtaining accurate fit and shape in dental plates. None of these prior art structures orapparatus are particularly adaptable or accurate in the compensation for loss of vertical dimension in dental plates. Such losses are caused by atrophy of tissue and bone in the wearers mouth through continued usage of dental plates and through the natural aging processes giving rise to problems of improper occlusion and other related physiological difficulties. There are also times when a dentist will inadvertantly use too much impression material while taking an impression for relining or duplicating a denture resulting in an undesirable increase in vertical dimension. In the past such problems were corrected by preparing a dental plate or new plates. As an alternative, correction or compensation was made by adding material to an existing plate and following a fit, work and fit process which is not satisfactory when the dentist and the laboratory are at remote locations. In each instance the added cost to the user, as well as inconvenience, were not satisfactory solutions to the problem. Existing articulators could not be satisfactorily used because they all employed pivoted holding structures which were movable relative to one another ,such that exact vertical compensation was not possible.

In our presentinvention we have provided an im-. proved apparatus which significantly simplifies the pro cess of adding to a denture plate to compensate for vertical loss in the mouth of the user to significantly reduce the cost of restoration of dental plates and minimize the time required to repair the same. The improved apparatus provides a means for the dental laboratory to accurately follow a doctors prescription as to the amount to be added to a dental plate to compensate for vertical loss in the wearers mouth and to insure that such material is added uniformly in accord with the impression of the plate such that a minimum of fitting and working is required.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for relining and duplicating dentures to provide for vertical loss compensation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simplified apparatus for relining and duplicating of dentures by adding material thereto to compensate for vertical loss in the mouth of the wearer.

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus of this type which is extremely accurate and easy to use.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached description together with the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the apparatus,

FIG. 2 is an end elevation view of the same,

FIG. 3 is a top view of the apparatus of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the apparatus of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the apparatus with parts broken away showing a denture plate mounted therein between holding and impression material and opened to permit adding of material to build up the upper surface of the denture plate, and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a molding canister to indicate the method of repair of the denture plate.

Our improved apparatus for repairing, relining and duplicating dentures is basically a fixture for mounting material with a dental plate therebetween such that an impression may be taken of a certain side of the plate and the fixture adjusted accurately so that a spacing between the impression and the plate of a predetermined distance may be obtained. This will permit adding of material to the plate to compensate for vertical loss in a patients mouth due to atrophy of bone and tissue therein. Thus as will be seen in the drawings, the fixture is indicated generally at 10. It. is comprised of plate members 12 and 14 which have flange portions or members 16 and 18 secured thereto at one side thereof. In the simplified structure as shown in the drawings, the flange sections 16, 18 are generally rectangular members which are secured to the plates by suitable means, such as screws 20. The plates and flange'portions may be formed integrally, if desired and made of any suitable material, preferably metal. The flange portions merely serve as additional support for guide structures which permit the plate members to be moved in a parallel relationship to one another for adjustment purposes. The plate members are guidedfor such relative movement by means of a pair of pins 25, which are preferably secured to one of the plate members or the flange portions of the same, which in the present disclosure would be the plate member 14 and the flange portion 18 connected thereto. Suitable apertures are positioned in the flange portion 16 and plate member 12 provide a sliding fit for the pins 25, 30 such that the same may be held in spaced parallel relationship and slidably adjusted toward and away from oneanother. The pins 25 and 30 project through the plate member 12 to allow for adjustment of the same relative to the plate member 14.

Positioned in the plate member 14 and flange portion 18 is a tapped aperture which extends through the platemember and flange portion. The tapped aperture is adapted to cooperate with the threaded shank extremity 42 of an adjusting bolt 45 which has a head portion 46 of larger diameter than the body or shank of the bolt. The enlarged head portion fits through an aperture 48 in the upper plate member 12 and the unthreaded portion of the shank of the bolt fits through an aperture 49 in the flange member to journal the same therein. The headed portion 46 has a notched recess 50 which is adapted to receive a plate-like retaining member 52, the latter being secured to the upper surface plate through screw means 54 and has a semicircular shaped curved extremity 55 which is adapted to fit into the recess or groove 50 in the headed portion of the bolt to retain the same therein and permit rotative movement relative thereto; This secures the bolt to the plate member 12 such that with rotation of the headed portion, the threaded shank extremity 42 will move in the tapped aperture 40 of the flange and plate member 14 to relatively position the plate members in spaced parallelrelationship toward and away from one another.

One of the guide pins, herein shown at guide pin 30, has an indicia or scale thereon to indicate the adjustment distance between the plates after an initial setting have mounting apertures 70 and 80 therein, best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, by means of which mounting clay,

. such as plaster of paris, may be positioned and allowed to harden for the purpose of holding a denture plate therebetween.

Our particular apparatus for repairing dentures is directed specifically to a simplified apparatus and means formeasuring and adding the proper amount of plastic orrubber to an existing dental plate for the purpose of building up a surface on the upper side thereof to compensate for vertical loss in a patients mouth due to atrophy of bone and tissue. This apparatus can then be used to decrease the vertical dimension, with the same advantages as those when used to increase the vertical dimension. Thus, as will be seen in FIG. 1, the lower plate 14 when in use has positioned therein a suitable material, such as plaster of paris, indicated in phantom at 80, onto which will be positioned the dental plate 90 in a proper attitude for bite orientation. The plaster of paris or mounting clay 82 will fill the mounting aperture 80 in the lower plate and will be smoothed or leveled on the lower surface thereof. The teeth portion of the plate will be positioned on the opposite surface of the clamp to make an impression into the material, for a reference position. Similarly the upper plate 12 will have positioned in the aperture 70 thereof a buildup of similar material, such as plaster of paris, indicated at 85 with a molding or impression material 86 added thereto and inintimate contact with the upper surface of the plate to make a proper impression therein. Ex-

cess material is trimmed away and the impression material is allowed to harden along with the mounting clay or plaster of paris supporting portions 82, 85. Thereafter, the plates are separated a predetermined distance, which is the prescription distance given by the dentist or doctor as the proper distance or amount to be added to the upper denture plate, to compensate for vertical loss in a patients mouth. The indicia 60on the pins will indicate the change in separation or spacing of the plates such that an accurate location or separation may. be obtained. The plates are separated by manipulating or rotating the adjusting screw 46 such that the upper plate 12 will be guided on the pins 25, 30 to maintain an actual parallel or vertical spacing between the plates. This will leave a gap between the impression material 86 and the upper surface of the denture, as will be seen in FIG. 5, which is indicated in phantom at 92. Into this space is introduced a wax material to fill the same,'the wax material conforming to the upper surface of the denture and the lower surface of the impression material until this spacing is filled. Suitable trimming of the excess material from the denture and impression material takes place such that the buildup of wax on the upper surface of the denture will correspond to the rubber or plastic material to be added to the denture plate. After the wax is sufficiently hardened, the fixture or apparatus is opened and the denture with the wax attached thereto removed.

As will be seen in FIG. 5, this wax material 92 will conform and adhere to the upper surface of the denture plate and will correspond to the spacing between the impression material and the denture-plate with adjustment of the apparatus to the desired prescription or spacing. At, this point, the laboratory or dentist will handle the existing plate with the wax material thereon similar to a temporary plate in the construction of a denture. The plate will be positioned in a two part canister such as is indicated at in FIG. 6 with appropriate molding or plaster of paris material therein such that a true impression of the plate with the added wax material will be obtained. Thereafter, the denture will have the wax material removed therefrom and replaced in the molding canister in a proper orientation therein. At this time a suitable plastic material will be added in the spacing above the denture plate where the wax material had previously existed to mold to the upper surface of the denture a plastic material similar to that forming the base of the denture.

This improved method of relining and duplicating denture plates eliminates a work and try procedure of adding material to a plate and grinding down to a fit of a patients mouth. It further facilitates a repair of dentures without replacement or rebuilding of the same to provide an economy to the patient and the dental laboratory. It provides a simplified method of accurately adding to an existing denture a proper amount of material which will compensate for vertical loss in a patients mouth insuring proper bite orientation for the dentures.

In considering this invention it should be remembered that the present disclosure is illustrative only and the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for relining and duplicating dentures comprising, a pair of mounting plates, a pair of guide members secured in one of said mounting plates and slidably fitted through apertures in other of said mounting plates to relatively position the mounting plates in spaced parallel relationship and for movement toward and away from one another, a screw member rotatably mounted in one of the mounting plates and threaded through a tapped aperture in the other of the mounting plates with said screw member being positioned between the pair of guide members to translate rotational movement into linear movements separating and adjusting the relative position of the mounting plates, indicia means associated with one of the mounting plates to indicate relative positioning between the mounting plates, and means positioned in each of the mounting plates and adapted to mount impression material to hold a denture plate therebetween, said screw means including a manually gripping head portion with a notched recess therein and a flat plate positioned in the notch to rotatably' mount the screw means in said one of said mounting plates.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the members are a pair of guide pins.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the means associated with one of the mounting plates to indicate relative positioning of the same includes indicia' means positioned'on one of the guide members. i

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the means positioned in each of the plates adapted to mount the impression material includes irregular apertures in each of the plates.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the mounting plates have flange portions at one end of the same through which apertures extend to house and guide the pair of guide guide members and mount the adjusting screw there-- through. 

1. Apparatus for relining and duplicating dentures comprising, a pair of mounting plates, a pair of guide members secured in one of said mounting plates and slidably fitted through apertures in other of said mounting plates to relatively position the mounting plates in spaced parallel relationship and for movement toward and away from one another, a screw member rotatably mounted in one of the mounting plates and threaded through a tapped aperture in the other of the mounting plates with said screw member being positioned between the pair of guide members to translate rotational movement into linear movements separating and adjusting the relative position of the mounting plates, indicia means associated with one of the mounting plates to indicate relative positioning between the mounting plates, and means positioned in each of the mounting plates and adapted to mount impression material to hold a denture plate therebetween, said screw means including a manually gripping head portion with a notched recess therein and a flat plate positioned in the notch to rotatably mount the screw means in said one of said mounting plates.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the pair of guide members are a pair of guide pins.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the means associated with one of the mounting plates to indicate relative positioning of the same includes indicia means positioned on one of the guide members.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the means positioned in each of the plates adapted to mount the impression material includes irregular apertures in each of the plates.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the mounting plates have flange portions at one end of the same through which apertures extend to house and guide the guide members and mount the adjusting screw therethrough. 